Information for Agencies

Promotional Testing and Assessment Services

Your agency’s future is created today.

The hiring and promotion decisions that an executive makes today will have enormous impact on creating the organization of tomorrow. We offer the finest assessment tools available to help you identify the best candidates, and a process that is objective, valid, and defensible. We can accommodate 2 to 24 (and more) candidates in searches for first line supervisors up to the executive level for all public safety agencies.

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Valid and Defensible Results

Trained assessors score candidates based on specific written guidelines and locally-developed expectations. All scenarios are designed to reflect the local community and the values of the organization, validated with local subject matter experts, and are consistent with nationally researched performance dimensions. Challenges to our process are rare, but PST will provide defense support for no additional charge.

Written Job Knowledge Examinations to measure the candidate’s grasp of the body of knowledge that is required to be successful in the position. We have a semi-customized written test for Washington State Law Enforcement, Corrections, and Fire Service Supervisors that will include your organization’s critical policies. We can also build a completely customized written exam that is valid and defensible.

Work Performance Ratings, a PST exclusive product that objectively incorporates the candidate’s prior on-the-job work performance into the promotional testing process. Our day-long process uses a facilitated discussion with all the candidate’s supervisors to place objective scores on five performance dimensions appropriate for the position. All the supervisors contribute their insights about each candidate toward a final score. Clients often find that this process has the collateral benefit of creating a unified perspective for the leadership team.

Leadership Assessment & Coaching includes online survey tools to help individuals and managers identify strengths and weaknesses along with executive coaching to help develop and support new leaders.

Assessment Center Exercises

The Assessment Center is the “gold standard” of promotional testing. Candidates experience four or five job simulations custom-built to fit the position and the organization. These are built on the powerful foundation of a local job task analysis, eight leadership dimensions based in national research, and a preparation workshop for candidates.

The organization chooses job simulations from the broad categories of Oral Presentations, Interactive Role-Playing Scenarios, Critical Thinking & Decision Making, Tactical, and Writing Exercises.

On test day, PST delivers a “turn-key operation”; providing all the materials and does the scoring on-site. At the end of the day, your leaders participate in a briefing with the assessors and receive a rank-ordered list of candidates. All the documents created for the project and the assessors’ subjective comments about the candidates are provided shortly after the process so each candidate also receives personal feedback.

Multi-component tests

These events do not fit the rigid criteria of an assessment center but serve well to provide a rank order list and are less expensive. Multi-component tests merge portions of our most popular job simulations into a single event. The multi-component options are:

The Supervisory Skills & Abilities Promotional Test

This test typically includes a structured interview, an in-basket exercise, and a critical thinking exercise. The three components are prepared by the candidate and presented to a single panel of assessors. Additional customization options are available.

Command Skills & Abilities Promotional Test

This test includes several practical scenarios a command-level leader would typically be expected to handle, including case studies and a summarized report presented to assessors. This test is suitable for internal and/or external candidates. Additional customization options are available.
Get Started Today

Our Promotional Assessment Services are priced according to a number of factors, including type of test, number of candidates and exercises, and the responsibilities of the position. Discounts apply when the organization also uses PST for entry-level testing.

Click on the link to discuss program and pricing options.

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What agency officials are saying about PST...

  • "Since 2015 we partnered with PST to create a number of Assessment Centers for our public safety promotional opportunities. Some of the positions we have tested for include: Fire Lieutenant, Captain and Deputy Chief; Police Sergeant, Lieutenant and Captain (twice each); Corrections Sergeant; and the non-commissioned position of Police Services Supervisor.


    Needless to say, we have been extremely pleased with the promotional testing services provided."

    Civil Service Commission

    "We find the PST staff to be professional and responsive. PST consultants work closely with our agency personnel to ensure the test content is specifically tailored to our agency needs.


    Perhaps the highest praise comes from the candidates themselves who participate in the promotional exams. At the conclusion of the test, they are provided with a feedback form about test content, the overall process, and overall relevancy. As the Civil Service Secretary/Examiner, I carefully review their feedback and have noticed throughout the years that the candidates consistently give excellent ratings about PST administered test content and the overall promotional process."

    Civil Service Secretary/Examiner

    "We find their staff professional and responsive. The testing process has been organized and thorough. PST has been flexible and helpful in adjusting the scope of the test and the exercises when we have new ideas. We have heard from the candidates that they find the testing process to be fair and job relevant.


    The City has been very happy with the work PST has done for us and will continue to use their services in the future. "

    Senior Human Resources Analyst